Auckland average house price falls in January, Barfoot says

Auckland average house price falls in January reflecting
seasonal lull, Barfoot says

By Tina Morrison

Feb. 5
(BusinessDesk) – Auckland’s average house price slipped
in January, reflecting a seasonal slowdown following the
Christmas and New Year holiday period.

The average sale
price fell 7.6 percent to $647,207 from a record in
December, although it is 7.7 percent ahead of January last
year, according to realtor Barfoot & Thompson. The median
price fell 7.8 percent to $580,000 from December.

“This
is part of the normal seasonal trading pattern,” managing
director Peter Thompson said in a statement. “All
indications are that the market is building to being
extremely active during the first quarter of the
year.”

The agency sold 854 properties during the month,
its highest January for six years. Some 39 percent of homes
sold were under $500,000, the highest level since the
Reserve Bank in October imposed limits on high-debt lending.
That indicated banks were being more flexible towards low
deposit borrowers, the realtor said.

Barfoot & Thompson
had 3,371 properties listed at the end of the month, the
lowest number for January in more than 11 years, suggesting
prices may rise over the next three to four months, it
said.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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